Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 587: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the legal status in international law, in EU Law and in domestic law of the Lisbon guarantees; the legal status they will have as protocols; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29754/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The legal guarantees obtained by Ireland at the June European Council relating to the right to life, education and the family, taxation and Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality take the form of a Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council.

The June 2009 Decision constitutes an international agreement, binding in international law, which will take effect on the date of entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, should the forthcoming referendum be passed. The Decision makes crystal clear what the Treaty does and does not provide for in relation to these matters and should provide reassurance to those who believed that the Treaty would adversely affect our position.

As international agreements, both the Treaty and the Decision will be registered with the United Nations. This is because Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations provides that all international agreements to which UN Member States are party should be registered with the UN Secretariat as soon as possible after their entry into force.

This form of legal guarantee was previously given to Denmark at the Edinburgh European Council in December 1992, in relation to the Maastricht Treaty.

At the June European Council, the Heads of State or Government stated explicitly that the Decision granting the legal guarantees is legally binding. Further, they made clear that at the time of the conclusion of the next accession Treaty, the legal guarantees will be set out in a Protocol to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

As a Protocol, the legal guarantees will enjoy the same status in EU law as the Treaties. They will form part of the fundamental law of the Union.

Put simply, the Government has obtained binding legal guarantees in the areas that were identified as being of concern to the Irish people last year. Before and during last month's European Council, our partners worked with us to meet the identified concerns of the Irish people. The Government could scarcely have hoped for a better outcome from the European Council. If the forthcoming referendum passes and the Lisbon Treaty enters into force, these guarantees will immediately become binding and effective; subsequently, they will have full treaty status as a Protocol annexed to the EU Treaties.